Post navigation

Peter and the Starcatcher: 8 Fun Facts

Faith Sandberg (Molly Aster), Steve Pacek (Boy/Peter), Nathaniel Stahlke (Prentiss) and Garrett T. Houston (Ted) in The Rep’s production of Peter and the Starcatcher. Just 12 actors play more than 100 characters onstage. Photo by Stephen B. Thornton.

We are in the middle of our run of Peter and the Starcatcher and to highlight some of the history and interesting trivia about the Peter Pan story, we thought it would be fun to share eight fun facts that you maybe didn’t know!

Here they are:

One of the reasons that adult women played the role of Peter Pan in the first half of the 20th century was to avoid British child labor laws that prevented child actors from working on stage after 9 pm.

Aerial effects company Flying by Foy earned its international reputation based on the flying effects it created for stage versions of Peter Pan, beginning in 1950.

In stage versions of Peter Pan, Tinker Bell is often created only by a spotlight and the sound of bells.

In Peter and the Starcatcher, 12 actors play more than 100 roles onstage.

Jungian psychologists refer to the “Peter Pan Syndrome,” in which an adult male’s mental maturity seems to be stalled in adolescence as Puer aeternus, which is Latin for “eternal boy.”

In the 1978 dark comedy ‘dentity Crisis by Christopher Durang, the character of Jane delivers a monologue about attending an absurd, accident-prone production of Peter Pan in which the actress playing Peter Pan accuses the children in the audience of not clapping hard enough and, therefore, killing Tinker Bell.

As Smee, Borle featured a tattoo on his left arm that is the Mandalorian crest from the Star Wars universe, which is the same symbol featured on bounty hunter Boba Fett’s armor in the Star Wars films.